Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:31 pmPosts: 1523Location: In the land of Druids and Moonrakers

It must be Christmas. Lidl have their almond speculoos-style biscuits back in stock today, along with some accidentally vegan rum barrel liqueur chocolates. Can we use this thread to share the magnificence of the seasonal food delights in the UK and Ireland as they roll in?

Lidl have their almond speculoos-style biscuits back in stock today, along with some accidentally vegan rum barrel liqueur chocolates.

:O

i've seen mince pies filtering their way into supermarkets over the last few weeks. sadly, the vast majority of them contain butter or other dairy products now - i recall seeing vegan ones in greater abundance 3 or 4 years ago. this year i've only found one: the Waitrose mini mince pies with star-shaped pastry topping (or something like that).

_________________vegan cheese bigamy is not allowed. - LisaPunk

So today at PPK I learned how to fork up a falafel and a taco. - craiger_ny

I almost forgot! Tesco have those Mr Kipling Winter Warmers - the mini pies that come in a pack of 6 with 3 different flavours. Still vegan as far as I can tell, and they're on sale 2/£2. I didn't buy any because I'd never had them before and didn't want to end up with 2 packs of something I couldn't stand.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

Christmas related question: is there anywhere that does vegan chocolate coins? The kind in shiny foil. I always used to get them in my stocking.Last year I asked a local shop that does dairy free chocolates and various vegan-friendly items (and Fairtrade milk choc coins), but she hadn't heard of any. And I asked in Holland and Barret; no luck there. The internet says Thorntons used to sell dark choc coins but hasn't in a few years.

I don't think so Green Duck, I've been looking for years. I asked Moo Free about it & they said the mould / machine they'd need to do them would be too expensive, they have brought out a chocolate Santa for this year though.

Now I come to think about it, my little cousin had a bag of special chocolate coins last Christmas and he is very allergic to dairy. I should ask my aunt where she found that. But I bet it will turn out to be from some prohibitively expensive website or something.

I could've sworn I saw some of those last year at my local health food shop. I'm not sure when they'll put out the Xmas stuff, but I'll post back if I see them. They ship free to UK mainland, so you might be able to get them!

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

The Sainsburys 'Free From' mince pies (plain and iced) appear to be vegan as far as I can tell. So far, most of the Christmas stuff I've seen in the free from sections in supermarkets contain egg. I'll probably hit the health food shops nearer to the festive period to see what's about. As it's my first vegan Christmas I'm quite excited to see what interesting things I can find to replace the usual meat cuts at dinner and the beloved trifle.

I made a really lazy trifle last year, it was super easy. I bought vegan jelly crystals in holland and barrett, a box of alpro custard and the box of vegan whipped cream you can get in free-from sections (I forget the name). Then just made a plain vanilla sponge and put it all together. The only change I would make is I should have bought 2 boxes of cream, 1 didn't quite cover it as much as I'd have liked.

the box of vegan whipped cream you can get in free-from sections (I forget the name)

The CremoVita? My problem is that I really don't like the taste of the soya cream alternatives. I find they taste too... nutty or beany, can't quite put my finger on it but I just don't enjoy it. I've tried making the coconut milk whipped cream recipe, the one where you mix it with icing sugar but I can't find a decent coconut milk that separates enough to make a thick cream. It's a shame because the coconut milk and icing sugar is the closest I've been to mimicking the taste of dairy cream.